The Treasure of Madain Sari
by xxLittleChangeoftheHeart
Summary: A collection of short stories about Eiko Carol. Chapter 1: (post-game spoilers) Eiko doesn't feel like she has a home to go to, but that might not be true after all.
1. Family

The atmosphere was somber on the deck of the Hilda Garde. Eiko sat with her back to the railing and her knees pulled up to her chest. There was a prickling at the corner of her eyes, but she refused to cry, even as she watched her comrades board the ship one by one and leave Zidane behind to go after Kuja. Minutes passed, and Eiko did not budge, even when Dagger and Steiner finally came aboard. He was looking at her, concern on his face, and she looked distraught, but was not crying. Eiko watched her lean over the side of the ship and watch Zidane fade away as the ship ascended. Eiko watched Dagger and felt her heart breaking.

They had won; they should all be happy. They had all survived. But somehow, it felt like Eiko was heading back towards loneliness and uncertainty. She watched Dagger slump against the rail, looking into the distance long after Zidane was gone from sight. Steiner stood by her, not speaking, but there. Eiko curled up a little more.

"Excuse me," a gentle woman's voice came from next to her. "Eiko, is it? Are you going back to Alexandria with the others?" Eiko looked up at Lady Hilda, Regent Cid's wife. She was a tough lady, but she was also very sweet, and Eiko felt the irrational urge to hug her. For some reason, now of all times, she finally felt the tears starting to well up. She buried her face in her knees and mumbled, "I want my mom."

Hilda stood there for a moment, unsure, before she gathered up her ornate dress and sat on the deck next to Eiko. She put an arm around her shoulders. "What is the matter, little one? I can take you home to your mom and your family. Cid will take you wherever you need to go."

Eiko shook her head, but didn't look up at Hilda. "I can't go home." She whispered.

"Why not?"

Eiko looked up at her finally, tears streaming down her face. "There is no 'home.' There's Madain Sari, where my moogles are, but there is no Vivi or Dagger or mom or family or Zidane… or anyone…"

Hilda looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered. "You are from Madain Sari, the lost village of summoners?" Eiko nodded, and Hilda hesitated before adding, "I'm sorry to ask, but are there any more survivors?"

"Only Princess Garnet. She is a summoner, too." Eiko looked at Dagger, then looked down at the deck of the ship. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to go back to Madain Sari. I just… don't want to be alone anymore."

Hilda looked at her for a long moment. "I'll be right back, darling." She said, rising slowly and going over to the bridge, where Cid was steering the ship. Eiko watched with intense curiosity, her tears momentarily stopped. She could not hear what Hilda said, but Cid looked at her, looked sharply at Eiko, and back to Hilda again. Eiko stood up, but stayed where she was. Her heart was beating.

Hilda said something else, and Cid listened with his mouth slightly open. After a moment, he closed it and smiled, nodding enthusiastically. "Steiner!" He called. "Would you steer for a moment?"

"Of course, Regent!" Steiner replied, saluting him and hurrying to his side after briefly checking on Dagger. As Steiner took control, Regent Cid took Hilda's hand and the two of them approached Eiko. Her heart beat a little faster.

"Miss Eiko, have you been to Lindblum before?" Cid asked her.

Eiko felt small as she replied shyly, "Yes, sir."

"Did you like it?" She nodded once, deeply. Hilda knelt in front of her.

"Cid and I have been unable to have children, but we have always wanted a little girl. What do you think about coming to live with us?"

Eiko's heart felt like it would explode if it beat any faster. "Like a family?" She whispered.

Hilda smiled. "Exactly. We could be your family, Eiko. We would love to have you."

Eiko felt the tears coming back, but this time, it was for a different reason. "Of course! Of course!" She yelled, and she hugged Hilda fiercely. Hilda chuckled and held her, and Cid knelt down and embraced the two of them.

For the rest of the journey, although they were all missing Zidane, there was a sort of light-heartedness on the Hilda Garde, and Eiko fell asleep in the arms of her new mother. She had a feeling she wouldn't be alone again.

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**Author's note: **I have to say that I couldn't stand Eiko when I first played FFIX 15 years ago, but she is my favorite character today. I don't find her bratty and irritating; she is six years old, lonely, surrounded by adults and trying to be strong like them. I love Eiko, and the little child part of me really empathizes with her. I will be adding short stories over time as new chapters, hopefully convincing others to love Eiko as I do. Please Review!


	2. Ooh, Soft

Request by Fairyfan54!

Summary: Eiko leads the group from Madain Sari to the Iifa Tree.

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Eiko confidently led the gang out of Condie Petie Mountain Path. She felt the familiar rush of excitement as she beheld the Iifa Tree looming in the distance, majestic and mysterious, but felt even more exhilarated than usual; she was going to break the seal. She felt that it was the right choice.

'Sorry, Grandpa…" Eiko thought. 'But I have to follow my heart.'

"Everything okay, Eiko?" Vivi asked, his large yellow eyes concerned. Eiko snapped back into reality and put her hands on her hips.

"Of course it is!" She said haughtily. "The Iifa Tree is right ahead!" She began to stroll ahead, but dropped back after a glance at Zidane. He was trying to walk close to Dagger, but she looked annoyed and kept changing her pace. Eiko saw her opportunity, slowing down to squeeze between them.

"Zidane, you're gonna love it there! The Iifa tree is even cooler up close! And wait until you see this Eidolon!"

Dagger had quickly and willingly scooted over to make room for Eiko, but she turned her attention to her now.

"What is this eidolon, Eiko?" Dagger asked. "I wonder if I've ever heard of it."

"I doubt it." Eiko said, but quickly changed the subject. She herself was not sure what Eidolon was there, just that it had been a failed summon.

The group encountered a few monsters on the way, but dealt with them rather easily. Eiko was thrilled to fight alongside Zidane, her new hero, in battle, and she loved how impressed he and Dagger were by her summons.

The group finally approached the base of the Iifa tree, and wound along the path to the seal. Eiko stood back and watched Zidane make a couple attempts to get through the barrier before he turned and asked, "Only you can break the seal?"

Eiko nodded and stepped forward. She concentrated her thoughts into her horn, beginning to communicate with the Eidolon, before she realized this was a great opportunity to impress Zidane, and began to chant a 'spell' out loud. Vivi, Dagger, and, most importantly, Zidane, watched with awe.

'Hurry up!' Growled a voice into Eiko's mind, and she could feel that it was the Eidolon Carbuncle. She finished the real spell in her mind, and the seal broke. A ruby tumbled to the ground, and she scooped it up.

"Finished!" She chirped, pleased at the impressed faces of her comrades. "We can go inside now."

"Thanks, Eiko! Let's go." Zidane began to walk forward, leading the group now. Dagger trailed behind him, looking deep in thought. The group wound and climbed through roots and branches, and at one point encountered what appeared at first to be a dead end. The roots were twisted in such a way that they could not progress, and Eiko could not initially see a way to keep going, especially based on the view from her short height. She bit her lip, hoping that she wouldn't disappoint Zidane if this was the end of their trip to the Iifa Tree.

"I don't think we can keep going in this direction." Dagger said, but Zidane was looking at the center of the twisting roots, where there was a slight gap, with great interest.

"I think we can get through here," He said.

"I don't think…" Eiko began to protest- she could tell easily that not even she, the smallest member of the group, could slide successfully through that hole, but Zidane ignored her, stretching his arms in a showy way as he stepped closer. The other three watched with raised eyebrows as Zidane tensed and sprang forward hands first into the twisting roots. His first attempt resulted in him sliding back out, but he tried again, this time with a little more force. He gained a bit of momentum with each lunge and wiggled his way into the roots.

"Zidane, you're going to get stuck." Dagger said disapprovingly, and Eiko giggled a bit. Zidane's tail was waving frantically as he tried to get through the roots. Eiko was distracted by that as Zidane continued to try to get through, but he suddenly stopped moving as he got the top of his waist into the hole. A moment later, he wiggled and kicked his legs, but nothing happened.

"Are you okay?" Vivi asked, which seemed to Eiko to be the only thing he ever said.

There was a moment of silence before they heard a muffled voice. "I think I'm stuck."

Dagger sighed. "Let's try to push him. Help me, Vivi." The two of them spent a minute trying various ways of pushing Zidane through, but to no avail. After several minutes with no progress, Dagger looked around. "I think we can climb over that branch and try to get around." She said, pointing at a nearby branch.

Vivi nodded. "Let's try it!"

"We're gonna try to go around and get you out!" Dagger called to Zidane, who suddenly went limp in the hole. His tail drooped. Eiko figured he was probably pretty embarrassed, but that thought was interrupted as she watched Zidane's tail swishing angrily on the ground.

Dagger and Vivi were so distracted trying to get over to Zidane on the other side that they didn't notice Eiko didn't follow them. She was staring at his tail. When she first saw him at Condie Petie Mountain Path, she had immediately noticed his tail. She had never seen someone with a tail before; was it normal where Zidane was from? Suddenly, she longed to touch it. Was it soft? Was it coarse?

She crept towards it like he could actually hear her approach or try to get away. She stooped behind him and reached a tentative hand out, just barely touching a tiny hair on his tail. It twitched. Encouraged, Eiko patted Zidane's tail, and then began to pet it.

'It's so soft,' She thought. She held it to her face. 'It feels like my moogles' fur!' She smiled serenely.

From the other side, there were muffled voices of the others trying to figure out how to get Zidane out, and Zidane's voice, saying, "…Is something touching my tail?" He tried to move his tail, but Eiko held it tight against her face. 'It's softer than my moogles' fur! I'm gonna cuddle this forever!' She thought, ignoring the protests getting louder. Zidane's tail wiggled in her grasp, which she tightened. She wrapped her arms around his tail, cuddling up around it. He began to kick his legs, which snapped Eiko out of her pleasant thoughts and she glared at his backside as she drew away. He stopped, however, when Dagger hissed, "Stop moving! How are we supposed to get you out if your legs aren't straight?"

"Something's got my tail!" Zidane said, clearly annoyed.

"Well it's gonna get your whole butt if you don't sit still!" She snapped back. "Now, Vivi, _pull_!"

Suddenly, Zidane slid through the hole, and his tail was wrenched from Eiko's grasp. She sat there for a moment, stunned, and watched the heavy roots immediately close the distance again of where Zidane had slid through. Eiko leapt up and scampered to join the others, not wanting them to come back and discover that the only thing on the other side to have been grabbing Zidane's tail was her. When she ran up next to them, Zidane was sitting on the ground, rubbing his sides with his sides, with his tail curled up around his body.

Vivi looked at Eiko, "Where were you?" He asked, not unkindly.

"So suspicious!" Eiko raised her nose. "You left me! I tripped and hurt my leg, and you didn't even hear me calling!"

"I'm sorry, Eiko!" Dagger said, concern in her voice. "Can you walk okay?"

"I don't know… it hurts pretty bad." She played it up.

"Zidane, can you carry her for a bit?" Dagger asked. He stood up, wincing a little, but said, "Sure."

Eiko would have felt bad for lying, especially when Zidane was the one that was probably actually a bit hurt, but she couldn't help but enjoy being carried piggyback by her hero with the soft tail along the branches of the Iifa tree.


	3. Treasure

Summary: The circumstances surrounding a birth.

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The sound of the waves crashing against the dock did little to make him feel better. He had wandered down to the dock under his home, looking for solitude. Hope had come to the village; hope in the shape of the small baby he held in his arms. He examined her tiny hands, holding one in his own, marveling at the difference between his aged hand and the bright pink of her baby skin. He swept his hand over the baby's soft head, with dark purple shoots of hair just starting to show. Her green eyes were closed and she was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the pandemonium that had been the start of her life. He closed his eyes and held the baby tightly to his chest. She cooed in her sleep, turning her head to the side and brushing her small horn into his chest. It poked at him, but he did not move. He could not bear to loosen his grip.

He had lost everything. After the storm had hit, ten years prior, many villagers had died. His friends and family were gone, including the love of his life. None of them had been prepared. The day had begun like any other, with the small number of children frolicking about and the villagers laughing and singing. When the sky began to darken, some ran to the Eidolon wall. He had been one of them. He was hoping to see his wife there, but she was not, and by then the storm was too great. He prayed, protected by the ancient walls, until the sounds of the howling winds and the crashing waves died down. When he emerged, he wanted so badly to turn around and run. The tribe had been small in number for some years, but he knew that this would truly devastate them. Many villagers were already dead, and he quickly realized that the wounded were beyond his abilities to heal. He tried his hardest, alongside one or two other villagers. He watched them die while he cast healing spell after healing spell. As the clouds cleared, he realized there was no point trying to bring back the dead, but that he had to seek out the living. He searched, but Jane was gone, as was Sarah, one of the few children their village had been blessed to see born six years ago. Last of all, he did find his wife, but not the way he wanted to.

He had felt betrayed by his ancestors at first. He had been at the Eidolon wall. He had been praying. He had honored their ancient teachings and respected the Eidolons and nature his whole life. He knew the mistakes the summoners had made in the past, and he educated the young villagers as best as he could manage to prevent them from making the same mistakes. He had been a great man all his life. He was angry. How in the world could his ancestors take everything away like this? Why did the Eidolons not protect them?

Of the few survivors, one was his daughter. She was feisty and a powerful white mage. Despite her terrible injuries, she was one of the few that tended to people in those critical minutes after the storm. While it was too late for many, she managed to save one man in particular, and that changed everything. It took many moons for him to recover, but she nursed him back to health all that time. They married, and the old man could not stop the tears running down his face as his daughter and that man wed in front of the ocean. It was so bittersweet; the ocean had taken everything away that day, but now it seemed to hold a promise of something new.

That something new came in the form of several children born of the couple. The old man was so thrilled whenever he heard there was to be a new child, but for a grandchild of his own to be born in this small, failing village was truly a miracle.

Unfortunately, his happiness did not last, nor did the children. Some did not survive infancy. Some struggled through it, only to succumb to some illness or other. The old man watched it break his daughter's heart time and time again. He could see her growing weaker. He wasn't sure how much more she, or any of the townspeople could take. Food was getting more and more scarce. Villagers were succumbing to old wounds or old age. Villagers who were younger and more fit were being killed by fiends trying to venture in search of food. Years passed and all hope seemed to be lost. The old man finally let himself think, _we are a dying village_.

Several months before the present, his daughter came to him. She looked gaunt but strangely undefeated. He stared as she entered the doorway and sat down at the stone table. She smiled and reached out to hold his hand. For the first time in a while, the old man felt like he was seeing her true smile.

"Papa," She had said. "I'm going to have a baby."

The old man was surprised. Surely, she was not healthy enough for this. He struggled to voice this to her. "…are you sure you can handle it? I mean… will you both make it?"

She cast her eyes down to her small belly. "We will." She said. She looked back at her father, an old fire in her eyes. "I know it hasn't always worked out before. But this time, it will."

She sounded so sure, and he wished he could believe her. But he had seen so much tragedy, and he was beginning to wonder what happiness and hope used to look like. For the next several months, he prayed almost nonstop at the Eidolon wall. His daughter, hand-in-hand with her love, would find him there, kneeling and praying with such fervor. She would smile, placing a hand on her ever-growing belly. Somehow, she looked healthier than she had in a long time. "Papa," She'd say with a hint of a laugh. "What on Gaia are you doing praying so much? The guardians are surely tired of hearing from you!"

He would shake his head. "Nonsense," He'd say. "We need their blessing now more than ever."

She would cast a sympathetic look, or pat his shoulder sympathetically, before lighting some incense, saying a short prayer, and exiting. The old man was terribly apprehensive about his daughter's nonchalance. She knew that it was no little thing; that a life could be stolen at any second. They all knew that.

Before the old man was ready, the baby came. And she was beautiful.

They called her Eiko. Her mother cradled her in her arms, newborn and bawling. Her father grinned and grinned, never waking his eyes off of his wife and his baby girl. The old man was so scared to touch her. He hardly even wanted to look at her. But when his daughter, tired but triumphant, asked, "Papa, would you like to meet her?" the old man found his feet moving towards them.

He took her in then as he did presently; the tiny hands, the pink skin, and he marveled at her strength. Her late siblings had been small, smaller than even she, and frail. They had fought death from the moment of birth. Tears came to the old man's eyes as he realized that Eiko, instead, was fighting for life.

That moment was burned in his memory. Not long after, Eiko's father had gone out to hunt. Food was so limited, and the villagers were in more danger than ever. When word came back that there had been injuries on the hunt and some did not return, Eiko's mother went. The old man tried to stop her, but it was in vain. She was the strongest of the white mages remaining, and if anyone could save a life, it would be her.

He lost his son-in-law that day, as well as his daughter.

Now, days later, he was struggling. The last few villagers were devastated by the loss of the youngest, liveliest members, and the last ones of child-bearing age. They rallied around the baby, the last one of their tribe, but it was so overwhelming to the old man. There was so much pressure on the small life of an infant, being the only hope left in a dying village. That led him to take Eiko and hide, down by the dock.

He looked at her sleeping face now and saw his daughter's features. He remembered his daughter at that age and how he loved to hold her, just like this. He had loved to hear his wife sing the ancient songs to her as a lullaby. He loved to watch her grow and become such an amazing person, as he was sure his granddaughter would become. Calm came over him, finally. Eiko stirred, momentarily flittering open her green eyes and gazing at him, only to close them again as she yawned deeply and fell back into slumber. His heart melted and for the first time since her birth, he felt warm wings in his chest. He stood, and quietly walked to the Eidolon wall. He cradled Eiko in his arms, tightly, away from the sadness of the rubble that was Madain Sari. When he reached the wall, he laid Eiko softly on the ground. He lit incense as the sun began to set. He heard the voices of the villagers singing quietly. He found a decent-sized rock, and began to carve into the wall.

He carved his wishes for Eiko; that she would be a legend, and that Eidolons would always be her protectors. He had a feeling that someday soon, he would leave her, and he did not want her to be alone. She was strong, and she was a fighter, but she was just a baby. She'd be his baby granddaughter for a long time still, before she could spread her wings.

He carved his words as she slept on the dusty ground next to him. He wrote,

_Eiko, You are a treasure born to a dying village. We are_

_dying, and there is little we can do for you. We shall return_

_to the stars with one wish in mind. If legends are not born of_

_eidolons, and eidolons but born out of legends, let us leave_

_this place with one wish: If we can give birth to a legend, it_

_shall create an eidolon that is friend and protector of_

_humans._

He scooped Eiko back into his arms. She fussed a bit, and he whispered, "Shh, it's okay. They will protect you always." As they left the Eidolon wall, they were watched by a small moogle with an orange pompom, sitting above the ancient painting of Madeen.

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Please Review!


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